Under the guise of spiritual leadership, Gregorian Bivolaru allegedly exploited hundreds of people through an international network of yoga camps and retreats. Now he’s awaiting trial, accused of kidnap, trafficking and rape. Here, one of his victims reveals how she broke freeFrom the outside, Tara Yoga Centre looks like a normal, welcoming yoga studio. A pleasant building in an expensive east London postcode, with another popular branch on an Oxford high street. There are positive, even gushing, Google reviews. The website is professional, with photos of smiling people stretching on matching purple yoga mats. It promises “rapid and integral transformation”, as well as “an invitation to awaken now”.When Miranda, from Oxford – who has asked to go only by her first name – was in her late 20s, she visited India to practise yoga. It was 2015 and yoga was already a booming industry in the UK. She was working as an English teacher at a London school and gravitated to yoga for the same rea...
Gregorian Bivolaru, a Tantric yoga guru, is accused of exploiting followers through his international yoga network, Misa. A woman named Miranda was drawn into the "inner circle" of Tara Yoga Centre, where teachers spoke highly of Bivolaru. Other yoga gurus like Sri K Pattabhi Jois and Bikram Choudhury have also faced abuse allegations, often masked as spiritual practice or alignment.
